U.K. MIDWEEKS: SHIRES & NIALL IN A CLOSE ONE

The Shires and Niall Horan are locked in a tight battle for the U.K’s Official Albums #1 with just 55 chart sales separating the two at the halfway point. Over on singles, it’s a similar story for The Weeknd and Saint Jhn.

The Shires are currently leading the way on albums with Good Years (BMG), followed by Horan’s Heartbreak Weather (Virgin EMI) at #2.

Circa Waves are on course for their first Top 5 with Sad Happy (Prolifica) at #4, followed by UMC’s Matt Monro collection Stranger in Paradise­—The Lost New York Sessions at #6.

Scottish indie four-piece The Snuts could make their first Top 10 appearance with Mixtape EP (Parlophone)—the week’s best-seller so far on vinyl—at #7. The self-titled debut LP from Manchester’s The Lottery Winners (Modern Sky) is also eyeing a Top 10 entry at #10.

Over on the U.K.’s Official Singles midweeks, The Weeknd’s "Blinding Lights" (Island) remains on top by a small margin: Saint Jhn’s “Roses” (Ministry of Sound) is just 300 combined sales behind at #2.

Joel Corry’s “Lonely” (Asylum) has risen four places to #3, while Mabel’s latest release, “Boyfriend” (Polydor), is up nine places so far to #16.

After eight weeks inside the Top 40, The Jonas Brothers’ “What A Man Gotta Do” (Polydor) could climb into this week’s Top 20, up seven places to #20.